Homomanisus
by Kinna
Summary: AU (Pre-OoTP)- Draco Malfoy don’t exist. Not as we know him that is. After repeated interruptions of Snape's lesson, a pissed Snape transfigures ferret Draco into human form. Sans the clothes. Opps. Slash (Going on hiatus for quite a few months)
1. PrologueChapter 1

Title: Homomanisus  
Author: Kinna  
Rating: PG for now, hope to bump it up later  
Category: Pre-slash, Humour (At least I hope so)  
Summary: AU - Draco Malfoy don't exist. At least, not as we know him.   
Due to repeated interruptions of Snape's lesson, Snape transfigures ferret Draco into human form. Sans the clothes. Opps.   
Author's Notes: Contains numerous excerpts from Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. Got this plot bunny when I was reading a fic about Harry's disquieting encounter with Draco after he transfigured him into a ferret and thought "Hey, what if Draco was a ferret and gets transformed into human instead?" Hehee. This warped product is then borned.   
Disclaimer: Obviously these characters do not belong to me. Anyone who doesn't know their owner get ready for me to send them a psychic wallop.  


============================================================================================================= **CHAPTER 1**

Harry pressed on through the crowd until he found an empty rear compartment near the end of the train. He put Hedwig inside first then started to shove and heave his trunk toward the train door. He tried to lift it up the steps but could hardly raise one end and twice he dropped it painfully on his foot. 

"Want a hand?" It was one of the red-haired twins he'd followed through the barrier.

"Yes, please," Harry panted.

"Oy, Fred! C'mere and help!" 

With the twins' help, Harry's trunk was at last tucked away in a corner of the compartment. 

"Thanks," said Harry, pushing his sweaty hair out of his eyes.

"What's that?" said one of the twins suddenly, pointing at Harry's lightning scar.

"Blimey," said the other twin. "Are you ---?" 

"He is," said the first twin. "Aren't you?" he added to Harry.

"What?" said Harry.

"Harry Potter." Chorused the twins.

"Oh, him," said Harry, "I mean, yes, I am."

The two boys gawked at him, and Harry found himself turning red. Then, to his relief, a voice came floating in through the train's open door.

"Fred? George? Are you there?"

"Coming, Mom."

With one last look at Harry, the twins hopped off the train. 

Harry sat down next to the window where, half-hidden, he could watch the red-haired family on the platform and hear what they were saying. However, a screeching sound nearby soon caught his attention instead. Leaning down to look underneath his seat, where the noise was originating from, Harry was surprised to discover a little albino-fringed ferret instead. It was blinking huge grey eyes, and cringing away from the sudden appearance of a human head. 

"Wow. Aren't you a cute little thing! How did you get here? Can I hold you?"

Harry stretched out his hand towards it, only to draw it back sharply when the ferret tried to sink its fangs into the fingers invading its personal space. He blinked, not expecting the show of violence from such an adorable looking creature. Sensing the momentary lull, the ferret tried to make a break for it, streaking across the compartment. Giving up hope at a gentle approach, Harry dived to the floor, shot his arms out and clamped his hands around the smooth belly, fighting to bring the squirming rodent closer while trying to avoid the swipes of its sharp claws. Unsuccessfully, as expected. 

Finally, the exhausted ferret gave up, swinging to and fro as it dangled from where Harry was holding it by its tail. An equally tired Harry sat down on the floor, peering over his glasses (which had slipped down the bridge of his nose in his valiant battle) at the criss-crossing scratches covering his hands, and at their perpetuator. 

"Look, I am not going to hurt you. You are going to hurt yourself if you go running around on this train and get caught in some moving parts or something. Why don't you calm down and let me take care of you? For the duration of this train journey at least?" 

Harry stretched out a finger, moving slowly so as not to startle the ferret which was still eyeing him warily, and ran it down his back. Seeing no negative reaction from it, Harry continued and stroked his finger in soothing motions. As the ferret relaxed visibly after a few minutes of this, the boy brought it closer and placed it on his lap. Seeing that no attempts at escape is imminent, he reached into his pocket, drew out the packet of biscuits inside and carefully opened it to offer some to the twitching, but relatively-docile ferret. 

* * *

The train slowed right down and finally stopped. People pushed their way towards the door and out on to a tiny, dark platform. Harry shivered in the cold night air and looked down at the sleeping ferret nestled in his arms. 

"Hey, wake up. We're off the train now. You can go now." The ferret stirred and opened one eye, only to close it again and snuggled closer into Harry's warmth. 

"I don't think it wants to leave." Ron Weasley, the youngest red-headed boy, and now, Harry's new friend, remarked. 

"But……..we are not allowed to keep pets except for owls, cats or toads right?" 

"Bollocks. Just don't let them find out. My Scabbers is not an owl, a cat or a toad too. " 

Harry peered uncertainly at Ron, then sighed. Not that he had much of a choice. He did not want to part with the adorable little ferret too. He just hoped that he would not be kicked out of Hogwarts in his first week and get sent back to the horrible Dursleys if they discover his rule-breaking. Suddenly, his thoughts were disrupted by a familiar voice: "Firs' years! Firs' years over here! All right there, Harry?" 

Harry, startled, quickly stuffed the ferret under the billowing folds of his robe as Hagrid's big hairy face beamed over the sea of heads. The ferret emitted a squeak of protest at the sudden jostling, before settling down back to sleep. Making sure that no one was looking, Harry gently slipped the ferret into a pocket, and then proceeded with the rest of his year mates to follow Hagrid down the steep, narrow path towards Hogwarts. 

* * *

"Caput Draconis," said Percy, and the portrait swung forward to reveal a round hole in the wall. They all scrambled through it - Neville needed a leg up - and found themselves in the Gryffindor common room, a cozy, round room full of squashy armchairs.

Percy directed the girls through one door to their dormitory and the boys through another. At the top of a spiral staircase --they were obviously in one of the towers - they found their beds at last: five four-posters hung with deep red, velvet curtains. Their trunks had already been brought up. Too tired to talk much, they were about to pulled on their pajamas and fall into bed when Harry felt the weight in his pocket. The ferret! In the excitement of the welcome feast, he had almost forgotten about the little creature. It had been so quiet the whole evening. Harry tried to put in down on the bed, but it clung to him stubbornly. 

"Hey now, I need to change. Please wait for me here. I can't undress holding you. All right?" After some persuasion, the ferret finally let go. Harry quickly changed and joined it on the bed. "I guess you are going to be with me from now. Do you have a name? I can't keep calling you 'the ferret' in my head, can I?" 

It tilted its head and looked at him expectantly. 

"Too bad you cannot talk to me. Not like that snake at the zoo… but never mind. Can I name you? Hmm…let's see…you are so white and cute….how about I call you Snowy?" The ferret gave him a look that would pass for a glare had it been human and bared its canines. "Okay, okay, I don't think you like that. Anyway, if I go naming all my pets by their colours, you would have had the same name as Hedwig - she's even whiter than you." The ferret sat back on its haunches and just looked at him. 

"Terence?" Twitch.

"No? Rory?" Shudder.

"Atkus?" Furious twitching.

"Shredder?" Said ferret gave up subtle protests and growled at Harry, or at least attempted to, and swiped its claws in his direction. "Whao! All right, definitely not that. Might give you ideas to shred me instead." Looking at the ferret's aggressive stance, Harry had an idea.

"How about 'Draco' instead? I think it means "Dragon". Fits your character. Besides, it is in the school motto. Sounds impressive right?" The ferret seemed satisfied with that after a moment, relaxing and curling its tail. "Okay, Draco it is. Come here. Let's sleep. I'm tired." With that, Harry laid down and soon fell asleep, cradling his new pet protectively in his arms. 


	2. Chapter 2

** CHAPTER 2**

Over the next few months, Harry gradually settled into his busy schedule. It was exhausting, having to juggle studies and quidditch training, but it was the best time of his life. He had nice food, good bed and more importantly, people that cared about him. Even if most people treat him with awe more than anything, due to the fact that he was the Boy Who Lived, he had great friends, especially Ron and Hermione, and his Gryffindor dormmates. The only problem was that he was really jumpy as he was afraid that his keeping of Draco would be discovered. Unlike Ron who simply left Scabbers in his dorm room most of the time, Harry found it impossible to go anywhere without Draco clinging on to him. Except for Quidditch practice. Draco had attempted to hang on to Harry's new Quidditch robes when he decided to go flying the afternoon he got them, as the Quidditch robes do not have pockets, and had a few hair-raising, or in this case fur-raising, moments, where it had nearly slipped off completely and gone plummeting to the ground. Once Harry touched down, Draco finally released his deathgrip on Harry's robes, leapt to the ground and gave him a reproachful glare. 

"What? Don't you blame me! I warned you it is dangerous to come flying with me when I don't have pockets you can sit in. I can't spare hands to hold on to you when I have to hold on to the broom and catch the snitch at the same time. You were the one who insisted on coming. So now would you listen to me and stay in the dormitories?" 

Draco hung its head at being chastised and curled in on itself. Feeling sorry for the little creature, Harry picked him up and stroked him soothingly. "Shh….it's all right. I'm not angry with you. But just for your own safety, don't come with me when I go flying in these robes okay?" 

"Talking to your pet again, Harry? Geez, sometimes I swear you treat it like it's human." Harry looked up, startled. Had someone caught him? He breathed a sigh to relief to see that it was only Hermione. Hermione knew about the ferret, and in fact had helped Harry cover for it when on numerous occasions it was nearly discovered by the staff. That did not meant the Hermione approved of it. She was always scolding Ron and Harry for breaking the rules, but they had gotten used to her nagging by now. Besides, Ron seemed to enjoy bickering with her. 

"Sometimes I think it is too. It certainly understands me and communicate well enough to be one." Harry murmured absently and went back to stroking Draco lovingly. Hermione just shook her head and let Harry indulge himself. "There must be a few screws loose in your head. I rest my case. Anyway, I came out here to tell you that we are having a study session tonight. Remember to come back earlier and shower so that we can hit the books." 

"What? Again?" Harry groaned. "Why? Can't we do it another day?" 

"What another day? We don't have any more days!" 

At Harry's perplexed look, Hermione's exasperation rose a few notches. 

"For goodness sakes, Harry, remember? Tomorrow? Double Potions with the Slytherins? Snape's test? Or have you forgotten all about it?" A look at Harry's stricken face, Hermione guessed that the answer was yes. 

"Oh my god. I've already finished studying for it last night, and thought that today is for revision only. Guess I'll have to change that to teaching you guys. Really don't know how I end up with idiotic friends like you two. You'd better go start studying now... Will you close your mouth and start moving? A fly is going to think it is nesting ground if you keep it open like that. Come on! GO! NOW!!" 

Hermione watched as Harry grabbed his broom and went streaking off the quidditch pitch with Draco tucked under his arm. Really, boys. 

* * *

The next morning found Harry tearing his hair out and making little sounds of distress as he sat hunched over his desk in the Potions class. That, and giving huge yawns every five minutes. 'Oh god. Snape is going to kill me when he marks my papers. Can't remember everything despite all the mugging I did last night. Damn, damn, damn!' he thought, punctuating every 'damn' in his head by banging his head on his table and leaving perspiration marks on his test script.

"Mr Potter, I am well aware of your lack of brains, so there is no need to make it clear to the whole class by knocking your hollow head on the table. There are others who would prefer to do their test in silence," drawled Professor Snape, who had suddenly came up from nowhere and was now currently looming over Harry. The boy stifled a groan and murmured an apology instead. The Potions master was his most hated teacher, and it didn't help that Potions was his worst subject. And those irritating Slytherins who shared that class made it a habit to snigger whenever he got reprimanded by their Head of House. 

Having had his daily dose of Potter-insulting, Snape made to move away, gloating and feeling very triumpant. That leaded to his downfall. Literally. 

The class burst out laughing as they saw their normally uptight teacher in a heap on the floor, but stopped immediately as he looked up, a deadly scowl on his already-very-black features. Dead silence reigned as Snape righted himself, looking around to find whatever-it-was that had caused him to trip. Never mind that it was his own fault for having his nose in the air when walking. Not that he would ever admit it to himself. 

Harry could not stop the groan from escaping this time. He was in for it. Snape took points from Gryffindor for his breathing, so now that his bag had …... Oh no. "POTTER!!" Snape exploded as he realized just what had caused his embarrassing fall. 

"OF ALL THE….What's this?" Snape's hawk-like eyes suddenly caught sight of a squirming form in Harry's bookbag lying on the floor at his feet. 

Harry's blood froze as he immediately realized what Snape must have seen. Draco! He had left him in the bag today, not in his pocket for fear that the ferret would wake up and disturb Harry during the test with his squirming. 

"Nothing! It's just my bag and….whatever is in bookbags! Bo-books, I mean! Sor-rry it tri-tripped you, Professor!" Harry stuttered in panic and made a mad grab for his bag, but Snape beat him to it. 

"Books? Then you don't mind if I take a look right?" Snape, seeing the boy's panic, guessed otherwise. On purpose, he slowly opened the bag and tipped it upside down. Quills, parchments and books came spilling out. And a very startled ferret. Who immediately streaked for, what was in its opinion, the nearest refuge. 

The voluminous folds of Snape's robes.

* * *

Headmaster Dumbledore tried hard to hide the amused glint in his eyes as he looked upon the strange sight that greeted him as he stepped into his office after his morning walk - a livid Potions Master holding a terrified Boy-who lived by the scruff of his neck in his right hand, and a equally terrified ferret held captive by its tail in his left hand. The expression on the man's face was priceless - torn between ill-hidden fear, revulsion and fury at the boy and the rodent both. 

"I think you can let go………." 

"No! Do you know what this rotten animal can do? It disrupted my lessons! It climbed into my robes and tore them! It scratched me! It made me looked like an utter fool in front of my students! It….." 

"I meant the boy, Severus." The corners of Dumbledore's lips were twitching as he watched his normally controlled Potions Professor in such a state. "I don't think Harry is going to run away. You are frightening the dear boy. Now, have a lemon drop. These are really good." 

"This, this…..BOY of yours just brought this repulsive…", punctuating his statement with a hard shake on both sides, "RODENT into Hogwarts and into MY CLASS!!!". Snape was practically foaming at the mouth as he spitted the words out. 

Secretly worried that such an unhinged Professor can do some damage to the child with all the shaking, Dumbledore repeated, with a tinge of command in his voice, "Put the boy down, Severus." Snape relunctantly obeyed. Dumbledore noticed that Harry was still looking at the ferret and flickering his eyes up to its captor in fear. 

"Give the animal to the boy, Severus." 

"But..." 

"You deserve a rest. Or do you like to hold it so much? I didn't know you like small animals..." Snape stiffened and practically flung the poor ferret into Harry's arms. Shaking in residue fright yet relieved to be back in its owner's arms, Draco curled into a furball and burrowed into the folds of Harry's robes. 

"Why, it IS quite adorable. Harry, you say? Where did you get it, boy?" Dumbledore turned twinkling eyes upon the child. 

Harry swallowed, his mind in a whirl. Should he lie and say that he just picked up the ferret along the school corridor? No, Snape would probably kill his beloved Draco if they thought it was just a wild escapee and use it for a potion ingredient. Or throw it away, in the least. NO! They cannot do that to his Draco! He would rather get thrown out with it if it came down to that... 

"No what?" One eyebrow was raised above half-moon glasses. Harry blinked and blushed, realising he must have voiced his mental protest out loud. 

"I...I found Draco on the Hogwarts train..." "WHAT?? YOU' VE KEPT HIM SINCE THEN? THAT IS BLATENT DISREGARD OF RULES! YOU WILL BE..." 'Expelled', Harry finished mentally as Dumbledore interrupted Snape's tirade. "Nothing. Nothing is going to happen to Harry. It is correct to love and cherish all living things, isn't it Severus?" 

Harry's jaw was hanging off the floor as he listened to his headmaster. He wasn't going to be expelled? He had not expected Dumbledore to not punish him, after Snape's reaction. Although it was true that Snape was always picking on him anyway. Sneaking a peek at the professor, he saw that the man was turning colours faster than a Muggle traffic light. Red with anger, white with shock as he realised that Harry is not going to be punished, then back to a furious reddish-purple. Harry could practically see smoke emitting from the man. 

"FINE!!!" The pyrotechnics show ended when the Professor whirred around and stormed off, realising it would be impossible to do anything when the Headmaster was deadset on protecting his beloved Gryffindor. 

Moments after their ears had stopped ringing from the slam of the doors, there was an awkward silence. Dumbledore cleared his throat and was about to break it when the school bell rang, signaling the ending of the period. 'Saved by the bell!', thought the relieved old man. 

"Don't you have Care of Magical creatures next, Harry?" 

Harry, still not really believing the fact that he had escaped punishment, finally snapped out of his daze. Nodding and stumbling to the door, Harry paused as he heard Dumbledore's next words. 

"And Harry....I take it you named him Draco right? Go ask Hagrid for something more healthy to feed him than biscuits." 

In his confusion, it vaguely registered that Dumbledore didn't seem very surprised throughout his whole traumatic experience, but the thought was lost as fast as it struck him in his maelstrom of feelings. 


	3. Chapter 3

To all those who have reviewed:

OH MY GOD!!

Really sorry...I have something to confess. I actually wrote Chapter 3 already when I posted the first 2 chapters.   
However, it was really short, so I was wondering if I should continue adding to it or let it be a cliffhanger to be immediately continued in Chapter 4.  
This is my first ever fanfic, so I did not expect to get 16....16!!! reviews in one day. Wow.   
Hence I shall just put whatever I have written of the abrupt Chapter 3 up immediately. Since this story have not been beta-ed, please do not be too angry if I make any mistakes. =)  
Now for Chapter 4 and beyond, I am really lost. (No long term plans beyond Draco adjusting to human form though)   
To those who had thrown out plot bunnies in every direction so far, I appreciate all of them, even if I am not going to use them in this story. Maybe for another one some other time when inspiration strikes.   


P.S. Jessie, Whitethorn, Shuo Ri, As, Meirta(esp. you!), you guys must have mind-reading abilities. Snape IS the one that turns Draco human.   
Yes, I would like to clarify, Draco-the-ferret is not Draco Malfoy. So our poor dear is not a repressed human kid. Don't worry.   
I really don't know how to deal with a badly-traumatised kid who is stuck as a ferret for months or years on end. Imagine what it can do to his intellectual and psychological development. Oww.   
I know the ferret seems kinda too intelligent, but believe me, my friend's cat behaves the same way. If you say anything insulting to it, it turns very aggressive. I have this theory that animals can sense the vibes human give off, even if not the precise meanings of every word spoken.   
======================================================================================================

**Chapter 3**  


_Four Years Later..._  


"POTTER! If you have to keep your blasted rodent with you the least you can do is control it and make sure it behaves itself!"  


Snape was yelling at Draco again. Or more specifically, at Harry, who was struggling to control the wayward ferret in his grasp. Draco has, yet again, managed to upset the professor. Not that it was hard to work Snape up into a frenzy, but the frequency of Draco-related class disruptions were so high that even the Slytherins had lost interest in sniggering when Harry got another earful. Harry, conversely, never got used to being scolded by a professor, seeing as to how the other professors always favored him and never holler at him like Snape does. Head down, he caught a glimpse of Hermione, in the seat ahead, shaking her head, probably lamenting the number of points Gryffindor is going to lose THIS time. Ron, beside her, was mouthing _'Stupid git'_ at Snape as he swept by towards Harry.   
Harry felt a wave of gratitude towards his best friend, who have always fully understood and support Harry's love for his pet, despite his own Scabber's, or rather Peter Pettigrew's, betrayal in Third year. 

Harry's thoughts ground to a halt as a imposing shadow fell across his desk. _'Oh oh. More music to face.'_ With ears red, Harry gulped as he looked backed up at his yelling professor who was now towering over his desk. His grip loosened for a moment and Draco seized this chance to leapt out of Harry's hold and scuttled across the table.   


And knocked Harry's cauldon, filled to the brim with bright pink "Diffusion Colour Potion" they were brewing for this class, right onto Snape's robes.   


The class was stunned for a moment. Then, muted guffawing could be heard from several different directions at once. Harry could see the humour in the sight of a bright pink Snape as the Potion was absorbed into his skin through his clothes and spread all over his body, leaving a bright pink Professor, but he really didn't think Snape would be tickled pink by the situation at all. Judging at the two exceptionally bright spots of colour on Snape's cheeks, he was in for it. And so was Draco, from the way Snape is now eyeing the ferret which have jumped back into Harry's arms, startled by the clutter he had caused. The murderous intent in his eyes was clear for all to see. The sniggering abruptly died down.   


"Mr Potter," Snape's voice was icy, "I will not have your RODENT in my class again, despite what the Headmaster says. Since you are unable to control it, I would just have to get rid of your communication problems with it!" With that, he pointed his wand straight at Harry.   


"HOMOMANISUS!"  


The teenager squeezed his eyes tightly shut and held his breath, prepared to be hexed into oblivation by the obscure spell. The sensation that came, however, was not one of pain. All he felt was a sudden strange, warm weight in his arms. _'Is Snape trying to make me fall down by giving me a lead weight?'_, the confused boy thought. _'Obviously that won't succeed as I am sitting down'_. Unable to stand the suspense and silence that had decended over the class, Harry opened his eyes to take a peek, and nearly had a heart attack.   


In his arms, where Draco the albino ferret had been just a moment before, now lies a human, if pale boy.  



	4. Chapter 4

Title: Homomanisus  
Author: Kinna  
Rating: PG-13 - Gratuitous nudity here. And swearing. So kiddos, get out of here before JKR's lawyers come blame me of corrupting their innocent young readers. Also, probably going to be R soon.  
Category: Slash, Humour (At least I hope so)  
Summary: AU - Draco Malfoy don't exist. At least, not as we know him.   
Due to repeated interruptions of Snape's lesson, Snape transfigures ferret Draco into human form. Sans the clothes. Opps.   
Disclaimer: These characters do not belong to me. JKR is the one who mojo-ed them up. I just throw them into the frying pan and let them writhe around  
Author's Notes: Ok, from now on I am REALLY going to veer off from the original plotline.   
_  
Hmm. Msgs to my dearest reviewers:  
Shuo Ri: Yup. Go ahead and use the Draco the ferret to Draco the human idea! I cooped the idea from 'A little ferret loving' and twisted it around in the first place, so it isn't totally original. (In my POV at least). Please throw in a little plug for me though. ;P   
As and Nightwing: Yup, I was thinking of how Draco is going to cope with this disconcerting change in environment and acceptable social ettiquete...you two have given me lots of ideas! Thanks! Personally, I don't know of anyone who keeps ferrets, nor do I remember seeing any in my life (except on TV), so I am treating it like a hamster....those tips on ferret-y behavior is really helpful! Oh, and the spell Snape used (seeing his reason for transforming Draco) allows what Draco want to say in his ferret-brain come out as human tongue...though his ferret-brain way of thinking hasn't changed....that much.  
Everyone else: Sorry I don't have time and space to acknowledge everyone here, or it is likely the acknowledgemants will run longer than the chapter itself....but thank you so much for all the encouragement and questions.....gave me some good ideas for possible future fics....  
Oh, and thanks to Lulu for offering to beta for me......  
_ ============================================================================================================= **CHAPTER 4**

Harry's first instinct was to shove himself backwards, and shove backwards he did. Only he had not taken into account the fact that he was sitting down, and shoving back with his feet AND hands on the table meant toppling the chair backwards. So not only did he fail to extradicate himself from the warm, naked body in his arms, he ended up with a nasty bump on his head, an aching spine, and pinned under said naked body, now somehow straddling him and pressed flushed against him. 

_ 'Oh my god, get off...GET OFF!!! -- This is kind of warm and comfy...and the skin is so smooth -- Wait...where did this boy come from -- WHERE'S DRACO?' _

Now this litany of thoughts are rather disconnected, and kind of conflicting even, but Harry's panic-addled brain had just failed, so it is rather expected. All he could do was lie there and flail about, so it did not make him feel very guilty to be enjoying the warm body on top of him, since he had nothing to do with its appearance anyway. Or so his libido told himself. That is, until the piercing shrieks of a few of his female classmates broke his reverie. 

"Oh my god, I am not looking at the naked boy's ass, I am not looking at the naked boy's ass, I am not looking……" That was the somewhat calm reaction of Hermione as she leaned over and looked at the entangled pair on the floor while attempting to keep her fingers over her eye and muttering to herself. 

"Mr Potter, have you been struck dumb? Or do you think I have cast a petrificus on you? I can assure you that you are perfectly mobile. Unless you like spending your time lying flat on your back..." 

"I... I..." tongue-tied, Harry gestured to the body lying on top of himself, trying not to blush, but failing miserably. Snape growled, reached down, and grabbed a hold of the boy's shoulders to pull him off Harry. His attempt failed as said boy spun his head around and closed his jaws upon Snape's right hand. Before spitting it out and clinging on even tighter to Harry. 

Squeak. "Bad taste," was his first words that Harry heard, set before the background of Snape's muted cursing. "OWW!!! MERLIN'S BALLS! Stupid little bastard……"

Harry was struck by a sudden impulse to laugh. And laugh he did. Until his sides felt like they were in stitches. The strange boy tilted his head back, looked at Harry and broke into an impish grin. "MINE!" That shut Harry up. Just when the question was about to come out from Harry's mouth, Snape finally stopped nursing his injured hand to provide an explanation of sorts. 

"That," he grated out, pointing at the boy atop of Harry, "is your ferret. You make sure that I never see him in ferret form again. The spell I've casted will last for a month, you renew it yourself if you want to take him out of your dorm after that. Or I will make sure that he would never again roam the halls of Hogwarts in ANY form, despite what the Headmaster says! Class is dismissed for today!". He turned and swept out of the class, only pausing to have one last word, "And Mr. Potter, fifty points from Gryffindor!" 

Harry groaned, then breathed a sigh of relief now that Snape is gone. His brain was still trying to process the news. _'Draco...the pretty boy in my arms is Draco?'_ *Mental doubletake* _'And pretty? Where did that come from? Never mind, now is not the time to think about that...'_ Blinking as he saw his classmates still gathered and staring at him, the Gryffindors curiously and Slytherins smirkingly - some had positively lascivious looks - Harry's arms instinctively tightened about the boy in his arms, realizing he was still naked. Shielding as much of the boy as he could with his own robes, Harry looked around...

"Erm...guys...Ron...Mione...anyone...help?" 

* * *

After multiple mishaps, Harry and Draco finally made it back to the Gryffindor dorms. Harry had managed to get up only with Hermione's help. A transfiguration spell to produce a towel from a handkerchief to drape over Draco and himself, and a levitation spell to get Harry off the ground with Draco still clinging on to him; his dormmates were still snickering too hard to be of any help. When Harry had finally righted himself, he had proceeded to trot back to his dorms as fast as he could, although THAT speed was rather limited as he was literally walking with his hands full - one was trying to hold on to the towel and the other, to support and hold on to Draco. The main problem was that Draco was still naked as he had refused to release his deathgrip on Harry in the prescense of other students, so Harry had a handful of smooth, naked flesh in his grasp wherever he put his hands. To make things worse, the best place to put his hands to support Draco, in his current position, was on_ (yes, you guess it)_ his ass. So Harry was hurrying down the staircase like a muggle fire-engine, bright red and in a great hurry, praying to God and every other guardian entity to not let him run into anyone else on the way, with the other boys following some distance behind. Upon finally reaching his dorm room, he had cajoled, begged, ordered and even threatened everyone, especially the mischievious Seamus, to stay out of the room for the rest of the morning. Nothing worked until Ron, whose growth spurt was much more significant than anyone else's, agreed to act as the door guard and physically restrain anyone who comes along. Now he can finally get down to the business of prying Draco off himself. 

"Ok, ermm...Draco? You can let go now, we're back, there's no one else here, look..." 

The boy-ferret opened an eye cautiously, then the other. (Both had been tightly scrunched closed as he was jostled around during Harry's escape from the dungeons.) Seeing the familiar surroundings, he let go, hopped right onto Harry's bed. Only to emit a startled yelp at the very different feel and vantage his new body now gave him. Suddenly reminded of his predicament, he froze, looking around furtively, then towards Harry for help. "Why--??" gesturing to his new body, sounding quite hysterical. 

Harry sighed inwardly. _Why me? All this weird things always happens to me..._ "Draco, you are stuck in this human form because of Professor Snape. This is the only way the old sod would allow you to continue to come with me to classes....I don't know how to turn you back right now....I'm sorry....."

Harry's reassurances did not seem to have much of an effect upon the disorientated Draco, who was still sitting stiffly on the bed. Upon closer examination though, the Gryffindor realised that he was shaking, and dropped into the bed to get closer to Draco. _'Uh on, bad move,'_ he thought as Draco shot off the bed and ran to the furthest corner of the room, _'he's as skittish as when you first met him on the train years ago. No way am I going to repeat THAT. Besides, he doesn't even have a tail I can hang on to now.' _ Deciding to go with the gentle approach, Harry inched towards the corner, holding his hands in front of him with palms up to show that he intended no harm in an effort to calm the boy-ferret. 

"Draco....there's no need to be afraid....come on....." 

Blink. 

"I'm sure you recognize me....you understand what I'm saying, right?" 

Tentative nod. 

_Okay, getting response at least. _ "See, these are just hands...... there is nothing frightening....they are like your paws, you see, except you can't use these for walking....come......" 

Tentative pale fingers stretched out and caught quidditch-callused fingers. Slowly moving forward to gather the shivering being in his arms, Harry breathed a sigh of relied as the tense body gradually relaxed against him. Murmuring reassurances, Harry practically carried Draco back to his bed. 

"Hang on a moment while I go get a drink, all right?" The now calm boy nodded. 

_Phew._ In all the excitement of the morning, Harry have not had a chance to assuage his thirst, and now his throat was screaming its protest at his negligence. He took the respite to take a few deep breaths. Feeling better, he turned back. 

"Draco, do you want..." his brain took a vacation as he realised that Draco had stretched out and made himself comfortable on HIS bed. While still as naked as a newborn babe. He had nearly forgotten aboout that little fact, but now it was coming back to bit him hard in the butt. And some other parts of his anatomy as well. 

"I ...I need the toilet....." Harry croaked, and ran off. 

* * *

"Oh god, you pervert, you are perving on your ferret. Even though he is a boy now...one with a rather delectable ass though...URGH!!! What am I thinking? It's still a male for God's sake! AHHHH!!" Harry stared at his image in the mirror, which of course stared right back. The mirror itself, sensing his distress, kept quiet. After all, it had heard from its neighbours that its predecessor had been, well, his predecessor because it had said the wrong thing at the wrong time to the Gryffindor and gotten itself blown up, although not intentionally. Harry's uncontrolled bursts of wandless magic was something of a taboo subject among the furniture. 

After some moments, Harry shook himself. _'Forget it. Just get him dressed, and stop thinking about it. See no evil, think no evil. It'll never happen again. I'm only fascinated to see if he is any different from, er, other normal boys. The old git's spell seems to be anatomically correct, at least......URGH! I'm not thinking about Draco naked AGAIN!!'_ *Mental slap* _'See no evil, think no evil...see no evil, think no evil....'_ Harry started mentally chanting to himself. Then shrugged. _ 'Might as well relieve myself since I am here'_

Unfortunately, the Boy-who-lived cannot even pee in peace. In the midst of pee-ing, a truly horrible thought struck him. 

_'Shit, I don't think Draco the ferret knows how to use the urinal. I'm going to have to teach him. Or maybe he remembers from the trips he came with me to the loo......'_

Wait. 

_'OH FUCK! He has seen me in the loo. And buck naked in the showers too.'_

Harry really wished the floor would open up a hole and swallow him now. Perhaps Hogwarts the School would take pity of him and rearrange its architecture for him. He prayed really hard and waited for a good ten seconds. 

Nothing. 

_'Snape, you greasy old bastard, what have you done?'_

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_Reviews, reviews, I hunger for them please!! The glowy feeling when reading them keeps me going. _


	5. Chapter 5

_Author's Notes:   
Hmm. Some readers have pointed out that it is a bit fast that Draco already knows how to speak. But the way I have set it up, the spell Snape cast is to ensure communication between Harry and the ferret. So the ability for speech is intrinsic/implanted. If you want the full explanation I can tell you that the spell causes the brain's synapses to take memories of the words Draco remembered and give his new nervous system the implanted memory of how to move his vocal cords, tongue and face muscles to produce the exact sounds his brain remember. It also gives him a 'pictorial dictionary', if you will, of common objects and actions, and the pronounced names of them.   
*Whoa*. That sounded scientific. But that's what you would expect from a science student like me.*  
But well, think of it as magic. This is **fantasy**, people. Of course, I have to admit that the reason why I put it that way is just so that the story will move forward faster. Having poor Harry teach him grammar and human etiquette is bad enough, but if Draco has to learn to pronounce everything word by word, I think Harry would go downright crazy. Remember, he is a teenage boy, a lot not exactly known for their patience. Now, on with the story. This chapter's kinda long, though. I apologies if it bores you. Enjoy!  
_===================================================================================================== 

**Chapter 5 **

Harry was wiped. Totally and absolutely. Throwing himself into bed, he cursed the Gods for the situation he found himself in. The day had been the most mortifying ever in his life. He felt the urge to start crying in frustration, something he had never allowed himself to do, as he recalled the events that have transpired since the morning. 

* * *

_*Flashback*_

Harry had exited the bathroom to find Draco, still lounging around in the buff on his bed. He immediately went in search of some clothes for Draco. Pulling out a white T-shirt and a pair of black track pants, he placed them on the bed before Draco, taking care to keep his gaze on Draco's face and not somewhere southwards. 

"Draco, you have to wear some clothes. Put these on." 

Puzzled stare. 

"Erm--how to put this-- in human form you have to cover yourself up with this...it keeps you warm, you know...like fur!"

Draco's eyes widened and he nodded. As he leaned forward to pick them up, his fingers brushed against the pile of robes next to them. He stopped, sniffed and grabbed the robes instead. "I want these!" 

"Why?" Harry was confused as to why Draco preferred the drape-looking black robes. 

"They smell nice!" 

"Nice? Can't be. These are the ones I wore last night..." 

"Yeah, they smell like Mine!" 

"Yours? No, they're m..."Harry trailed off as he suddenly remembered what Draco had called him in the Potions classroom _–'Mine!'-- 'Oh dear, more things to explain. Apparently he, no, its, got the ownership issues mixed up.'_

"Draco, my name is Harry. HAIR-REE. Just like yours is Draco. So call me Harry, got it?" 

Nod. 

"And yes, fine, you can wear the robes if you want. I'll teach you how to put them on." 

Once they were done, Draco gave Harry a blindingly-bright smile. "Thanks, My Harry!" 

_--NO!!!--_Harry mentally howled and dropped his head into his hands. After several moments in which he calmed down enough to judge himself capable of explanation, he opened his mouth, only to be interrupted, before he could even start, as Ron burst in. 

"Harry! Lunch's already started! You're going to miss it completely if you don't go immediately!" 

"But, I..." he stuttered, motioning to Draco. 

"Come on, he's already dressed!" Nodding at Draco, Ron grabbed Harry's arm, ready to haul him out of the room. However, Draco reached out lightning-quick, dug his nails into Ron's hand. 

"OUCH!" "DON'T TOUCH MY HARRY!" 

Harry could barely make out the two simultaneous, loud, rapid-fire yells. Shocked and ears ringing, he intervened before the shouting match could escalate. "Shit! Ron, I'm sorry! Draco, Ron's right, we do need to eat something. Let's go for lunch at the Great Hall first, ok? Come on." 

Draco nodded and latched on to Harry's outstretched hands, and with Ron still glowering at Draco, the three boys hurried out of the Gryffindor tower. 

On the way, Draco stumbled a few times and nearly fell, unused to walking on two limbs as opposed to four. Harry tried to slow down as much as possible to allow him to keep up, and to be ready to grab Draco incase he fell. 

As they reached the Great Hall, Harry saw that Hermione had thoughtfully kept three seats beside her empty. Taking the middle seat, he motioned for Draco to occupy the one beside her, while Ron sat on his other side. He resolutely ignored the whispers and curious glances, or even outright staring, sent at him and Draco. Knowing the gossip mill that is Hogwarts, the whole school has probably heard about the incident in Potions by now. The Boy-who-Lived had become used to unwanted attention over the years. He had piled his plate with food and was about to tuck in when he noticed that Draco was just sitting there. 

"Draco, go ahead and eat. That's food." 

"Food? But that's not what I normally eat." 

Harry suddenly realized that Draco would indeed need a change of diet presentation for the month. In fact, he would need an entire set of etiquette lessons. _'And it all falls to me.'_ he thought glumly. _'Oh well, no better time to start than now.'_

Harry started explaining while filling the plate in front of Draco, "This is chicken, this is lamb, they're cooked," and at Draco's confused expression, clarified, "Put at fire to make them easier to chew and swallow. This is pumpkin juice," he said, setting a cup in front of Draco, "which we drink, like water. You eat the meat using these so that you don't get your hands dirty. There, go ahead." He gave a fork and knife to the boy who was listening attentively. Turning back to his own plate, he started devouring his lunch until he was interrupted by Hermione who had finished by now, "Harry, look." 

Harry turned and nearly face vaulted as he saw that Draco was trying to stick his tongue into the cup of pumpkin juice just like he use to when drinking from his plate. 

"Eek! Draco, you don't drink from a cup that way. You bring the cup up instead." He demonstrated and Draco followed suit, tasting the pumpkin juice and blinking at the strange flavor. 

"He needs help with the cutlery too," Hermione noted. "I can help with that. Draco," the boy flinched away as Hermione laid a hand on his shoulder, "or not. I think you'd better do it instead." 

Harry resisted the urge to knock his head on the table. "Draco, just follow what I do, ok?" He started cutting into his food at a reduced rate, hoping that Draco would be able to follow. 

After lots of fumbling, Draco soon threw down the fork and knife. "Feed me, my Harry!" 

Harry opened his mouth to correct him, looked at the other boy's petulant expression and sighed. Time was running short, so Harry gave in and cut some of his own food into bite-sized pieces and fed them to him. _'What a sight I must make. Feeding another boy. Good thing lunch is almost over and most of the people have left or I'll never live this down.'_

Just as they were finished, a solitary grey school owl swooped in to drop a piece of parchment in front of Harry. 

**_Dear Harry, _**

**_See me at my office after lunch. And you can bring company along, if you like. _**

**_Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster. _**

_'This must have something to do with Draco,'_ Harry thought. _'But what?'_

************************************ 

"Ah, Harry, there you are. And this young man is Draco, I presume?" Dumbledore was definitely expecting them both. _'Maybe he wants to help change Draco back?'_ Harry positively jumped for joy at the thought. He really wanted Draco to go back to his natural (not to mention low-maintenance) form. What came out of Dumbledore's lips next, however, completely dashed his hopes. 

"Since Draco will be with us for a while..." 

"WHAT? You aren't changing him back?" 

The headmaster's eyes twinkled. "No, my boy, I can't expressly go against one of my staff's wishes, can I?" 

_'Oh yes you can, you old coot,'_ thought Harry, _'you just want to sit there and laugh your ass off at the sight of my suffering.' _

_~Suffering? Really? I thought you were enjoying the view for a moment earlier...~ _

_'Whaat....who the hell are you? How do you know what I was thinking anyway?' _

_~I'm you, you stupid ass. Albeit repressed, but still you. ~ _

_'Oh no you are not. I know what I'm thinking, and I'm not......Hey!......Hello?? ......he's gone. Never mind. Good riddance.'_

He kept the rebellious thoughts to himself, choosing to sulk and cast the Headmaster a sullen glare. 

The man was either blind or just acting it. "As I was saying, I have informed the other professors that Draco will be joining you in your classes for the time being. I trust you can settle his accommodations in the Gryffindor tower by yourself?"

Harry nodded reluctantly, still too miffed to reply, or to even consider what Dumbledore was saying.  "If that's all..." he turned and stomped out of the office, Draco still trailing behind him, keeping silent as he sensed Harry's bad mood. 

************************************ 

Charms lesson in the afternoon was a respite for Harry, after all the madness of the morning. Draco had not tried to disturb Harry in his black mood, and was otherwise occupied watching the class practicing their charms, which he had never seen before as he had always been in Harry's pocket when attending classes, sleeping away. They were doing a complicated one that made the charmed object invisible to all but the castor and move anywhere he wishes. Rather useful for pranks. Draco watched, fascinated as the pillows they were using for practice disappeared one by one. After a while, though, Draco lost interest as the novelty wore off, and was soon nodding off. 

Harry saw a movement from the corner of his eye and whipped around. His seeker reflex made him move his shoulders to cushion Draco, whose head lolled sideways and body swayed as he went to sleep sitting beside Harry. Glancing at the peaceful-looking boy, Harry felt his anger melt away. One cannot stay angry at such an angelic-looking face. _'It's not Draco's fault that he had gotten himself turned into human form, anyway. He must be finding it very hard to adapt, too.'_ Harry told himself. He resolved not to take his anger out on Draco anymore. 

Shrugging mentally, he decided to take a break, since he thought he could manage the charm without difficulty by now. He took the chance to study the sleeping face. _Long dark eyelashes, small delicate nose, high cheekbones, sharp refined chin......_ Harry was leaning forward unconsciously by now...._porcelain smooth skin, delicious-looking pink lips......OWW!!!_

Draco had suddenly jerked awake and sat up straight, hitting Harry's jaw in the process. "WHAT?" 

"SORRY! Lost control of my pillow!" Seamus called out and waved from a few seats away. Harry waved back and grimaced, rubbing his bruising jaw. Draco blinked, realizing the damage he had caused. He looked stricken. 

"Hey, Draco, it's all right!! Only a little bruise!" Harry hurriedly consoled the poor boy-ferret who looked like he was about to cry. He reached over and clasped his hand over his and gave it a reassuring squeeze. Draco looked unsure. "Really?" 

"Yes, really. See, I can heal it easily." Harry used his free hand to cast a healing spell on the aching jaw. The pain disappeared. Draco looked relieved. Harry realized he was still holding Draco's hand and blushed, thinking about their close proximity moments ago. He tried to pull back, but Draco wasn't letting go, and since he did not want to upset the boy again, he left their hands clasped. 

_~You were thinking about kissing him, weren't you? Those enticing lips, inches away...~ _

_'No! Nothing of the sort!' _

_~Really? You don't think he's attractive and utterly kissable? ~ _

_'Yes, he is, but.....NO!! I mean, he looks attractive, but he's not attractive to me in THAT way!' _

_~Why not?~ _

_'He's, he's a BOY!! NO! I mean a ferret!' _

_~Well, he looks like a perfectly beautiful boy to me.~ _

_'Yes, he's beautiful, but I'm NOT gay! I don't like boys!' _

_~What's wrong with liking boys? You a bigot?~ _

_'NO! It's just....he's not...I'm not...he looks like a girl anyway!' _

_~Isn't that better since you insist that you like girls?~ _

"NO!! I don't...see what you made me do! I'm all confused now!" 

Dead silence. Harry suddenly realized that the whole class was staring at him, like he had gone nuts. His last mental outburst must have been not so mental then. 

"Yes Harry? Who's making you do what?" The diminutive Professor Flitwick asked. 

"Erm...Sorry? I was talking to myself." 

Flitwick frowned, and then nodded. The rest of the class turned back to their work, but not before casting Harry weird glances. 

_'Great. Talking to yourself. What a lame excuse. The class obviously thinks you've gone starkers now.' _

_~The class? Hell, I think you've gone starkers too! Arguing with yourself.~ _

_'You started it!' _

_~No. YOU started it. I'm you, remember?~ _

"SHUT UP!" 

Ten-plus pairs of eyes were on him again. 

_'Whoops. That came out not-so-mentally again.'_

************************************ 

_*End Flashback* _

* * *

After the horror that was Charms lesson, Harry had holed up in the Gryffindor tower, where he was now wallowing in misery. He was not going to come out for the rest of the day if he could help it. He couldn't even blame Draco or anyone else for it. It had been his own bloody fault that he couldn't keep his own trap shut when thinking. Speaking of Draco, he was now fast asleep, curled up on the floor at the foot of Harry's bed. Harry felt a bit guilty. He had ignored Draco ever since the horrifying charms lesson, and now the poor boy was sleeping on the floor, when there was a perfectly usable bed nearby. He dragged himself off the bed and went to pick Draco up to lay him down on the bed instead. Feeling very tired himself, he sat on the bed beside the sleeping form, closed the curtains, laid his head on the headrest, and decided to take a nap. He was fast asleep in seconds. 

_So, how was it? Reviews please! I need inspiration to carry on!! ***Brainstorming for next chapter now***_


	6. Chapter 6

_Author's Notes: Hey, I would like to say that I got the 'Harry and his Internal Voices' idea (liberally used in the last chapter) from 'Very Interesting Christmas Break' by Lady Doncaster. That story is absolutely brilliant! You have to read it! I could not stop giggling like an insane maniac as I was reading it, and my mum thought I was going crazy. Anyway, this chapter is going to really earn its PG-13 rating. Or it may even warrant a R, so under-aged chaps, please stay off! There, now that we got out that out of the way, ENJOY!!_

_Kinna_

_P.S. Review, please! Last chapter got really few of those. So sad. So please….._

_Praises and flames all welcome, although I would be ready with a pail of water to douse big flames. Ideas would be embraced!_

CHAPTER 6 

Harry gradually awakened to the feeling of a pleasant weight lying across his stomach. Still hazy from sleep, he was quite disconcerted to see what look like a white-yellow ball on him, until he fumbled on his glasses and saw the face clearly. Draco. Memories of the day came rushing back immediately. Oh right. He had gone to sleep after Draco. Apparently the blond had somehow moved in his sleep and had ended up pillowed on his stomach. Harry sighed as he thought of what lay ahead in the month, until the incessant rambling of his stomach brought his mind back to the present. _'Dinner! Oh god, what would Ron and the others think if they come in and see Draco and I lying like this?'_ He immediately set to waking Draco up. This was not an easy task, considering the ferret normally slept like the dead, used to sound and motion as he's carried around in Harry's robes in the day, and Harry was trying his best not to give the adjusting boy more frights. 

"Draco! Wake up. Hey…come on….wake up…" Draco stirred and his eyes fluttered open briefly, before closing again with a muttered "Comfy…" as he snuggled further into Harry, arms wrapped around the panicking boy and body curled like a cat.

"URGH! NO! Wake up now! We have to go before Ron….they all come in!" Harry screeched and grabbed Draco's shoulders, shaking them in an effort to wake the sleeping boy again. Finally, after what seemed like eons, Draco finally opened his eyes, and kept them open.

 "Huh?" 

"Draco, let's get out of here. It should be dinnertime by now. Aren't you hungry, too?" Draco sat up and nodded. Harry breathed a sigh of relief and moved to pull apart the curtains. As he scrambled out of bed, he realized that it was dark outside. Confused, he looked at the wizarding clock on the wall. It was almost midnight. 

_'Bloody Hell! Dinner's long over! Everyone else must have gone to bed by now! Why didn't anyone wake me up earlier? On second thoughts, luckily they didn't or they would have seen us in bed…geez, no wonder I'm wide awake now. And really hungry. Looks like I'll have to go down to the kitchens for food.'_ Digging out his trusty invisibility cloak, he turned to Draco, "Let's go to the kitchens for food. Stay close to me under this cloak so that we wouldn't get caught, ok?" Together they set off, huddled under the cloak. 

*************************************

When they got to the kitchens, Harry asked for proper meals, instead of the customary midnight sandwiches._ 'Might as well use this time to teach Draco to use the utensils,' _he thought, remembering the lunch earlier. Thus he sat down to the task of patiently coaching Draco in basic table etiquette.

"No, NO! You don't hold your knife like that! Looks like you're going to slaughter the meat instead. Put the handle between your thumb and index finger, like this, and use the tip of your finger to press down to cut…." Harry stood behind Draco, placing his hands above the blonde's to guide him. He froze when the boy suddenly turned, putting his mouth right beside his cheeks.

"Why do I have to do this? Can't you just feed me instead?" 

Harry took a deep breath before answering, trying to ignore the shivers running down his spine as Draco's breath ghosted past his ears.  

_~Keep doing that and I will feed you a lot more than just food. ~_

_'No, I really don't like the insinuation there. There will be NO feeding of any sort going on here!'_

"Um… Draco, we humans don't normally feed each other. It is….inappropriate." 

"But you used to feed me!" 

"Yeah, but that was when you were a ferret! You definitely don't look like one now!" Harry shot back, but softened as he took in the other boy's hurt expression. 

"Ok, I'll feed you snacks, sometimes, in private, ok?" Draco perked up some at this compromise, and went back to attacking the food with renewed vigor.

*************************************

After Draco's proficiency at the utensils were finally judged adequate by Harry, the two boys set off back to the Gryffindor dorms, Draco skipping ahead. Just as they were passing by the deserted Charms corridor, Harry's ears picked up the sound of boots clomping nearby. He immediately pulled Draco back against himself and threw the invisibility cloak over them, flattening themselves against the wall. 

"What--?" Harry quickly clapped his hand over Draco's mouth. "Sheesh… sounds like Filch is coming…if we get caught I'll get sent for detention…so please keep quiet so that he won't discover us…." the dark-haired boy whispered. Draco's eyes widened and he nodded in understanding. Just at this moment, Filch came into view. Harry held his breath, praying that Miss Norris was not with Filch right now too. The blasted cat had the uncanny ability to sense him even through the cloak; just that Filch had never caught on to it. _'Good thing there is no cat counterpart to Parselmouths,'_ Harry mused. He was startled out of his thoughts by the sudden feeling of a warm wet tongue licking across his palm. He jerked and twisted to look at Draco, who had a mischievous look in his eyes. He immediately removed his hand from Draco's lips and blushed. All sorts of indecent thoughts about the tongue were tumbling through his brain. Meanwhile, the resulting rustle of fabric had not gone unheard by Filch, who stopped and squinted into the darkness. 

"Anyone there? Who dares to be out at this hour??"

Harry froze and tried to shrink back further, pulling Draco with him. Now, Harry's front was flushed against the other boy's back. He could feel the heat emanating from the blonde's body, and his body was reacting in all sorts of ways to the close proximity. Blood was surging through his veins and excitement was coursing through him. 

_'It's just anxiety and adrenaline at getting caught.' _He told himself and tried to slow down his runaway heartbeat.__

_~Caught? Caught at what? Humping another boy in the middle of the night in the corridor? ~_

_'NO! No humping of any sort is going on! I am just worried about getting caught by Filch out after lights out time!'_

_~Really? We shall see. ~_

Harry was relieved that the argument ended before he could re-commit the stupid mistake of accidentally verbalizing them. A dead giveaway in this situation if there's one. Speaking of which, Filch was giving up, writing off what he had thought he heard to be his imagination when he saw no one and heard no more sounds. Harry held still as Filch turned around and started moving away slowly. Knowing that they were not completely in the clear till Filch disappears completely, the Gryffindor remained immobile. Draco, however, had no such inhibitions and started fidgeting, unused to remaining still for prolonged periods. Harry's eyes went wide. Pressed tightly against Draco as he is, the blonde's wriggling was doing all sorts of things to his body. He tightened his hold around the boy's arms, but it went unnoticed as Draco continued moving in an effort to find a more comfortable position. Finding one, he settled back – right in between Harry's legs. Apparently, Snape's spell had not taught Draco about the human body's reaction to ….certain situations, for Draco did not comment on the strange hardness digging into his lower back. He just adjusted so that it was comfortably nested between his arse cheeks. Harry, by now, was busy biting back groans of unwanted arousal. Draco's latest move just made his blood temperature rise further.

_'Oh, my god. No, no, ignore this…urgh….ah….'_

_~Hey boy, relax. Just lean back and enjoy….no, on second thoughts, don't lean back. More pressure is good, harder…..~  
  
'NO! This is wrong on so many levels….. oh god…'_

_~What the heck. Stop being a prude. You're enjoying this, aren't you? Or you won't be holding on to him this tightly. Oh……do that again!~_

_'I have no choice! Filch is here! I can't shove Draco away or say anything without Filch hearing! URGH!…OH!'_

_~Excuses, excuses. Can't stand you. I'll go enjoy myself in peace……OH!! HARDER! HARDER! FASTER! YES!~_

Harry could not control his body anymore. Apparently, 'Evil Voice' had taken control over his motor functions and was now using it to push and rub against Draco like a cat in heat. Draco just continued adjusting and pressed backwards, unknowingly heightening Harry's pleasure. After a few more seconds, Harry's body gave up against the deluge of delightful sensations. His limbs locked into place and he buried his head into Draco's shoulders to stifle his moans as he came, then leaned against Draco, breathing heavily.

Long moments later, Draco pulled away and turned to look at Harry, who, bereft of his support, slide down to the floor in a boneless heap. 

"My Harry, are you all right? Why are you on the floor? Can we go now?" 

The dazed boy stared at Draco for a few moments before the question registered in his mind. He looked around. Yes, Filch was long gone. Barely managing a nod, he attempted to stand up, but his jellied knees refused to support him. Draco rushed forward and held him up before he fell to the floor. Too shell-shocked and exhausted to protest or refuse the help, Harry staggered back to the Gryffindor tower, one arm wrapped around Draco for support. Upon reaching it, he barely remembered the password and gave it to allow themselves in. Luckily, Draco had a good sense of direction and memory, and guided Harry to his bed. 

His last thought as he fell towards his pillow was --_'God. Evil Voice was right. About the humping.'_

_There you have it. My first ever citrus-y scene. Not the last, definitely. Or at least, I hope so. _

_Again, I present my plea. REVIEW, REVIEW, REVIEW!!!_


	7. Chapter 7

_Hey peeps,_

_This chapter is kinda short. I've been distracted all week reading mangas (yeah! Yaoi rules!!), so could not get more out. Gomen nasai! This chapter is meant to be combined with the next chapter (the shower scene some of you have been asking for!), and I am trying to get my muse to co-operate, but to no avail. So I shall just post this first and hope I get feedback/reviews that will galvanize my imagination. *Hint hint*_

_Kinna_

_(Spoilers ahead!)_

P.S. Oh, and I had to invent my own creature in this chapter. No mythical creature I know of has primarily rodent characteristics. I love the manticore, but I don't want Draco to get mauled to death. 

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Harry woke to the sensation of a damp patch at his crotch the next morning. Reaching down to adjust himself, he found not the soft thin cotton of his pajamas, but the thick wool of his robes. _'Huh? Why didn't I undress myself last night?'_ Just then, his eyes fell on the blonde curled up next to him. _Draco._ His mind helpfully supplied the name, together with the complete set of information about his origins, down to every sordid detail. Including what happened the night before. 

_'OH GOD. How could I do that? I got off on a boy, a ferret no less!'_

_~Yeah, and what a way to get off! That was awesome!~_

_'Yes, but…NO! It was just a physical reaction to external stimulus. Anyone would have reacted to THAT!'_

_~Really? I would have thought most would have been disgusted instead.~_

_'Yeah, I AM! I mean, it's a ferret!'_

_~Oh, so the boy part is ok then?~_

_'No, but the ferret part is more important in this case! Not only that, he didn't even know what was going on! It's like, it's like, I violated him or something! Oh, god, I did, didn't I?'_

_~Don't be stupid. It didn't do him any harm. What he don't know won't kill him right?~_

_'But—but—it's WRONG!'_

_~Wrong? It's all in your mind. Well. It's not wrong if he wants it. Think he would enjoy a few human sex-ed lessons?~_

_'NO! STOP IT! Stop putting these vile ideas in my mind!' _

_~Vile? You didn't seem to think it vile when you were moaning in ecstasy yesterday.~_

_'Moaning? I was not…never mind. Last night was an accident. It would never happen again! Never ever!!'_

Relieved when the 'Evil Voice' remained silent this time round, Harry took stock of his current situation. Soiled robes, bed hair, and bad breath. Yes, time to take a shower. Speaking of which, Draco would probably need one too, but Harry didn't feel up to THAT at the moment with last night's activities still fresh in his mind, so he decided to forego that at the moment. Just a tooth-brushing and face wipe would have to do for now.

***********************************************

Harry and Draco were already midway through breakfast when Ron and Hermione came in. 

"Hey, Harry, looking good this morning. Must have been a good night last night." 

The raven-haired boy choked on his mouthful of food, as he recalled his midnight corridor activities, and quickly grabbed some water to wash it down. He hoped that the rising blush wasn't noticeable. Oblivious, Ron went on," You must have been really tired yesterday. Your curtains were closed when I checked on you before dinner, and since you weren't responding to my calls, I decided not to disturb you and just let you sleep. Not that I think anyone would need that much sleep, but Hermione said it was better to let you rest after the Draco incident—" Ron jerked and stopped his blabbering, looking over at Hermione who was glaring at him. She turned to the embarrassed Harry, and changed the topic.

"Hey, Draco, you're a fast learner, I see you've learned to use the utensils." Draco grinned and gave his knife a little spin, before going back to attack his scrambled eggs. Harry, grateful for the respite, was thinking how lucky he was that no one saw the way he and Draco had slept yesterday, and resolved to take measures to keep it that way. His mind was running through the options – curtain-locking spells, silencing spells, privacy bubbles, invisibility cloaks……-- somehow it didn't occur to him to make Draco sleep somewhere else other than on his bed. 

************************************************

"…and remember what I told you about Hagrid's care of Magical Creatures, or rather, care of Magical Monsters, lessons. Don't approach ANY of them unless I tell you to, got it?" Harry reminded Draco as they headed towards what had the record of being the most injury-prone subject, next to any Potions classes with Neville Longbottom in it. 

Surprisingly, what awaited them today was not some ferocious monster. At least not at first glance. 

"Raccoonelas", was what Hagrid called the raccoon-like, furry creatures. Except that these were ten times the size of normal ones, had nine tails, and what looked like a horn on top of its head. "Don't let their appearances fool ya'. These chaps have nice strong jaws and a delightful mouthful of teeth." One chose to yawn at this moment, illustrating his point with a mouthful of fangs. Three quarters of the class shrunk back. "You'll divide yourselves into groups of threes, take one Raccoonela per group and feed them with these." Hagrid pointed to pails of what looked like fresh meat behind him. The class groaned. "Off you go! And Harry, you and the new boy count as one." The half giant added, and with that, the class dispersed. 

"The books say that we are supposed to get to know it first before trying to feed it! If we just throw the meat at it, it would be offended!" 

"It already looks offended to me! I'm not going to get near it to 'get to know it', as you put it! I'll just get to know its teeth!" 

"Don't you think Hagrid would have warned us if these are liable to attack us without provocation?" 

"Hell, no!"

Harry watched in amusement at the argument between his two best friends, and the most-unlikely-couple he have ever seen. The two of them were forever squabbling, even though they were together. _'It's like foreplay for them,'_ Harry thought, chuckling. Caught up in watching the little drama, he almost forgot about Draco, until Hermione gave a little gasp and pointed in the direction of their raccoonela. Harry turned and his heart plummeted as he saw that Draco was less than a foot from it. 

"DRACO, GET AWA--!" Hermione clapped a hand over Harry's mouth, staring intently at the raccoonela who was sniffing at Draco curiously. Then something happened to make all three of them gasp. 

The raccoonela turned and jumped on Draco.


	8. Chapter 8a

_AUTHOR'S NOTES CONTAIN SPOILERS FOR OoTP!!!_

_THOSE WHO HAVE READ OoTP, please read the full author's notes at the bottom of the page.   
Those who have not (and don't want to be spoiled), the truncated version is right here._

_Author's Notes: _

_Hi peeps. YES! I know! This chapter is long over-dued! I'm SOOOO SORRY!!_

_*Kinna takes a deep breath and prepares to be battered.* (Thank devil for vampiric healing ability. At least I won't be beaten to death) ^_^~_

_Thank god I jotted down most of this chapter in my notebook a couple of weeks ago and just never got round to typing it out, or I would never have been able to get this out for another month. _

_And yes, I know it's kind of a cliffhanger. I'll probably reward you (or at least those of you that are of age) with plenty of smut in the next chapter. Yes. SMUT. I can see those of you starting to droll. Don't short-circuit the keyboard, folks. _

_P.P.S.__ This chapter is rated R. HARD-R. Battling at the roof of ff.net's ratings. So GET OUT if you're underaged!! Next chapter is going to get even harder (pun intended), so if reading this sort of things makes you uncomfortable, don't come to me if you cannot take it and get a nosebleed. IF YOU FLAME ME ABOUT THIS SORT OF THING, I WILL THROW YOU INTO A VOLCANO CRATER AND LET YOU BURN IN HELL. _

_*Taking a deep breath to calm herself* _

_As you can see, I'm kinda volatile these days. But I'm still reasonable. Mostly. So be nice and leave a review. I would not chew your head off no matter what you say. UNLESS you complain about too much smut. You can tell me if you think Harry jumping Draco at this stage is unsuitable or too early though. _

_Kinna___

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Harry rushed forward to rescue the blonde, only to stop short as Draco laughed – LAUGHED?!?—and started rolling around on the grass with the gigantic rodent. Shocked but relieved that boy was not being mauled, Harry watched him frolicking on the grass. Thinking that he should stop them after a while, he moved forward, only to be held back by Hermione. 

"Wait, I think that the raccoonela can smell Draco's scent and tell that it is, like, a family member. Raccoons and ferrets, remember? If we interrupt them, it may not react well to our scent, and turn violent instead. Better not risk it." As if to illustrate her point, Dean, several yards away, gave a startled yelp. Harry sat back and watched as Draco rolled, bounced, and generally had fun, and thought of all the times he and the ferret had done similarly when younger. 'Yes,' he thought, 'Draco should play now. Life as a human so far must have been really boring and strenuous to him.'

**********************************

"I think I'll forgo dinner in the Great Hall. Draco here can't go there in this state." Harry motioned to a sweaty and panting Draco, with dried leaves and mud stuck all over his robes. "I'll go down to the kitchens and get food if I get hungry later. Besides, I think I have some chocolate frogs sitting around somewhere. Unless there's pies or something portable for dinner…..bring up some if you can?" Hermione cast an uncertain glance at the pair and hesitated, but was shooed off by Ron who was complaining of hunger pangs. Soon, Harry and Draco were the only ones left in the corridor outside the Great Hall. '_Sigh. Can't put it off any longer.'_ Harry thought, looking over at the blonde, '_Might as well get it over and done with_.' 

**********************************

"This is a shower head. Water comes out of here – you should know, you've seen me using it before. Turn this knob to get water – it's charmed to stay at a comfortable temperature. That's pretty much – WAIT! STOP IT! Wha — what are you doing?" Harry sputtered to a half-undresses Draco trying to struggle out of his voluminous robes. The boy paused and stared wide-eyed at Harry. 

"My Harry takes these off before showering." he stated questioningly. 

Harry gulped, "Yes, but let me leave first, 'k?"

"NO! MINE! Stay with Draco!" 

Harry had already given up on explaining the ownership issue, but this was one he really wanted to make clear with Draco. For the sake of his own sanity, if nothing else. "No means NO!" Harry spun around to leave the showers. He barely managed a couple of steps before the floor came rushing up to meet him.

"Wha—"the Gryffindor blinked as he found himself pinned beneath a grinning, half-naked Draco, who then started bouncing up and down on the brunette's back. "My Harry! Stay! Play with me! Shower with me!"  

Harry's teeth were grating together, both because he could feel the bruise that was forming on his poor back, and because he could not see how he was getting out of his current position. Literally and figuratively. 

"Urgh—Draco, get off me!"

"NO! MINE! Don't go! Stay here, shower with me!"

Harry really didn't want to agree to this, but a few more bounces and some sore ribs later, he gave in. 

"Alright! Alright! I'll stay!! Now get off!" the minute the words left his mouth, he gasped as he realized that they could be taken the wrong way. "I mean, you're crushing me!!"

_~Hey, aren't you the pervert. Thinking of THAT again?~_

_'NO! I—I just realized how it sounded after the words left my mouth."_

_~Oh, please, stop making excuses! It's so much on your mind that you blurted it out immediately. You know, come to think of it, Snape probably didn't equip him with XXX slang… bet he has no idea of any ulterior motives you were having……..~_

Harry wanted to deny that, but it seemed as if Evil Voice was partially right, at least. He furiously tried to think of an appropriate retort that would not implicate himself further. By now, Draco had scrambled off the brunette, and had already finished undressing while keeping an eye on Harry to make sure that he didn't  try to run off again. However, when he remained immobile on the floor for a tad too long, Draco tried to be helpful, and started yanking off Harry's robes, startling the boy out of his reverie. "What the--?!? Stop, Draco! Stop it! What are you trying to do?" Harry yelped while frantically to keep the ends of his robes out of Draco's grasp. 

"My Harry take these off when he showers, no?" The boy had no other answer to that, and seeing no other way to escape this, accept the inevitable. 

"Fine, but I can do this myself, ok?" Turning around to protect his modesty (_'and sanity', he privately added), a thought suddenly struck him. "And don't you ever go around stripping others! Or stripping yourself in front of others!!", he added. Somehow the thought of it was unbearable. __'Must be for my reputation.__ It would go down the drain if others know that I have a perverted ferret. They'll tease me to death about birds of a fea….err…..mammals of a fur flocking together.' By now, amidst all the muttering to himself, he had finished undressing, and shuffled over to join Draco at the adjoining shower head. Satisfied that Harry would be staying, the blonde was now fiddling with the knobs and playing with the spraying water. _'At least there's a good thing about Draco being in human form. He can bath all he wants, which isn't possible for a ferret without becoming too musky-smelling.'_ Harry thought as he remembered how the ferret loved his monthly baths, unconsciously turning to watch the frolicking boy under the shower. ___

_~Look at all the wet, slick skin. You would love his baths too.~ _

_'Shut up!' Harry blushed furiously as he realized he had been staring, and quickly averted his eyes. He busied himself soaping up, until the prickly feeling of eyes upon him made him look up. Sure enough, Draco was eyeing him "Wha—what??' Dimly, he thought that his vocabulary had narrowed incredibly in the past few minutes as he leapt back. The blonde just gave him a curious look and pointed at the bar of soap Harry was holding on to tightly. "Oh! Right…I told you to use this….there you go. I'm finished." Passing the soap over, Harry took care to angle his body away from Draco and keep his eyes above neck level as he stepped closer. The smaller boy just grabbed the soap and turned back to his shower head, but mere moments later, it slipped out of his hands. "Wow! It's….", searching for the right word, "slippery!"_

The Gryffindor, who had heard Draco's exclamation, turned just in time to catch an eyeful of Draco's posterior as he bent over to pick the bar of soap up. Harry blinked as he was treated to a view of the most perfect ass he had ever seen in his life. (Mind you, not that he has seen THAT many or he goes around eyeing other's posteriors; it's just that one cannot avoid the sight of naked bodies after living in dormitories and using communal showers for 5 years.) Smooth, unmarked skin, wet and glistening twin globes – _and hang on, what's this? _– Harry stifled a moan as Draco bent further to catch hold of the errant soap bar, offering Harry a clear view of a dusky pink hole – _Oh god!_ – and as his eyes wandered further south, a pair of finely-haired dangling balls and the tip of a slick cock. 

Harry swallowed back the drool that was threatening to escape with some difficulty. Although later on, in hindsight, he realized that he should have looked away immediately, but for the moment, his brains, or rather, the sensible portion of his brains, had taken a vacation. Or more likely, fainted dead away. Conversely, the 'Evil Voice' was as active as it had ever been. 

_~Oh, yeah, look at the tight ass! Imagine how it would feel under you…~_

With his mind in a daze, Harry drifted towards the unknowing Draco, unable to control his actions, drawn in by an unexplained force….     

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Additional Author's Notes:

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_First I was distracted downloading, reading and translating manga, then I was so distressed at my horrible university postings that I went out and revamped my entire wardrobe with solid black. THEN, Order of the __Phoenix__ came out and I spent the weekend reading it and – AHHH!!! Took me completely out of the mood for fluff!! Now I got a dozen Dark Harry plot bunnies, and plenty of angst in my head! Not to mention Evanescense gothic rock songs bouncing away in my cerebral hemisphere. URGH!! _

_P.S. Yes, and the only thing I can say I'm happy about is the fact that I'm writing an AU of sorts with this, so can we just assume the OoTP events didn't happen, Sirius is still alive and hiding somewhere, and Harry is not an angsty teenager ready to yell and curse into oblivion anyone who even gets near to treading on his toes? Yup. I'm trying very hard to not have Shortfuse!Harry intrude and possess my Innocent&Nice!Harry myself. So please don't tell me my Harry is OOC to the new Harry in OoTP. I KNOW. (Drat J.K. Rowling for making him so different, and for making it so entirely natural/plausible that I can't even rage against her. The book is really damn good. For what is supposed to be a children's novel, she sure makes things far from tea and roses.)_


	9. Chapter 8b

Hi folks.   
  
Yippee!!!  
  
My 100th review!! *glomps Draco's Secret Lover* ( hehe, in the ideal world, won't that be Harry? O_o)  
  
Yes, the smut is here. Well, not exactly here, but at the following link: kinna.20megsfree.com/writings/homo8b.html  
  
Don't complain. I did say it's smut, didn't I? I don't want to suddenly find my entire story deleted ff.net for this one NC-17 scene. So please copy and paste the following link: kinna.20megsfree.com/writings/homo8b.html  
  
And please come back here to post a review! The more reviews, the more encouragement and inspiration I'll have to give you the next chapter sooner!  
  
P.S. This is my first ever full blown smut scene. I wrote it based on what I've read from others' fics. Please don't come give me a hard time if I'm anatomically incorrect or something like that. I won't know. I DON'T HAVE A DICK TO DOUBLECHECK WITH.   
  
Kinna  
  
(For those of you who would rather not read smut, it's suffice to know that Harry jumped Draco in a daze, who was pretty willing(we all know he won't say no to Harry), but they didn't have full-blown sex. And Draco passed out at the end, leaving a poor Harry to carry him back, where……) 


	10. Chapter 9

_Author's Notes_

_Here. I kinda forced this chapter out as a bridge as I didn't really have any good ideas, but I didn't want to procrastinate and I'm trying to settle back into the rhythm of weekly chapters. _

_Hope you peeps are okay with it. My creative juices are running dry, so yeah; feedback and ideas would be appreciated. They do help to shape the story. In fact, I am looking through the responses of the previous chapter to determine how my story should proceed…._

_(Damn. I've noticed that I am always out of ideas except during smut scenes)_

_Kinna___

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"There you are, Harry, I've brought you some stuff from lunch. Ron's still down there stuffing his mouth full--" Hermione trailed off as she looked up and took in Harry's dishevelled state – uncombed hair, wild eyes and trapped expression – and as her eyes slide down – with an armful of unconscious Draco. A dozen possible explanations sprung into her mind, each one worst than the last. The ferret/boy slipped and fell; they were attacked; Snape killed Draco before they could clean up, etc. Okay, so the last one is not that possible as even Dumbledore would have to stand in line to punish Snape if he indeed did that – Harry would kill anyone that harms his beloved pet. 

"What happened? Why is Draco unconscious?" Hermione asked as she dropped her book and hurried over, hands reaching out. Harry shrunk back, cradling the bundle in his arms to himself, mind working furiously. 

"He—erm—fell?" 

"Fell and passed out? He might have a concussion! You should bring him to Madam Pomfrey immediately!"

Harry's eyes widened as he realized his mistake. 

"Ah, NO! I mean—I meant—he fell asleep! Yes, that's it!" 

Hermione frowned suspiciously, "He fell asleep in the middle of showering?" 

"Yes…I mean, not really, er… he fell asleep while waiting for me to finish…"

"And why do you need to shower too?"

_Damn. "I … I thought I might as well shower since I was already there….. and it's stupid to go back to shower tonight when Draco will follow me again….so…" He trailed off, hoping Hermione would buy it. But no luck. As she opened her mouth again, Harry panicked and used the last resort he could think of. _

"Ah—I'm very tired! I'll go upstairs now to take a nap."

"Tired? In the afternoon?"

"Erm—Yeah! From carrying Draco!" Blurting out what he thought was the perfect excuse; Harry turned and practically ran away to his dorm to seek refuge like a Horn-tailed Hungarian was behind him. Hence, he missed Hermione's snort and final words, "Student of Hogwarts, School of Witchcraft and Wizardry? My foot! What happened to levitation spells?" as she frowned at Harry's departing back.

*************************

Harry kicked the door shut and laid the still out-cold Draco down on his bed, heart still pounding widely as he sat down on the other end of it and took in a deep breath. His moment of relief was short-lived as he found himself thinking of what had transpired earlier.

_'Oh, god, I violated Draco!' _

_~What violated? He was perfectly happy and willing In fact, if I recall correctly, HE was the one that made the first move!~_

_'Yeah, but he didn't know what he was doing!'_

_~And WHAT exactly was he doing that was so bad? Giving and receiving pleasure?_

_'No, I mean, yes, it's…it's the connotation of what we have done! What I made him do! It was SEX! Like- like we're lovers!'_

_~Don't be silly. That wasn't sex. Sex is when you stick your dick into his nice, tight ass and drill him, which we have to get around to doing so--~_

_'No! No more! Stop telling me such things! It's entirely your fault, what happened just now! I couldn't stop myself because of you!'_

_~Hey, now that's rich. I'm you, the repressed you, remember? So you're saying that you can't stop yourself because of yourself? ~_

_'NO!!...it can't be! Cause that would mean…' Harry's eyes widened in horror as realization slowly dawned. _'I'm a sickening pervert who jumped Draco and took liberties with him… I'm such a bastard…'__

_~Oh, come on. What's wrong with enjoying-- ~_

"Shut up, shut up, SHUT UP!"

Guilt-stricken as the enormity of what he had done fully sank in, Harry vowed never to touch Draco again and crawled beneath the covers, unable to face himself and the world.

*************************

_'Hmm…nice, soft bed… warm body…so comfortable to wrap my arms around…want to stay like this forever…' Harry tried valiantly to resist the slow drift to consciousness, but dreamland was already slipping further and further away, and with it, the pleasant dreams. Well, not completely. As he gradually became more aware of his surroundings, he was surprised to find the sensation of a warm body in his arms remaining. He forced bleary eyes open, to come face to face with bright silver ones._

 "Huh? Draco? When did I—oh no. I fell asleep? What's going on? What time is it now?" As memories rushed back to confront him, he gasped, shoved Draco off himself and jumped out of bed, leaving the blond bewildered. 

"My Harry, what's wrong?" 

Looking at the wide-eyed, innocent blond, Harry felt a rising wave of self-loathing. He turned away abruptly. "Let's go for dinner. It's evening." Saying so, he turned and strode out without waiting. He didn't really feel like seeing people at this time, but anything was better than being alone with Draco and fending off a thousand questions that he didn't know how to answer. 

**************************

When the Boy-who-Lived stormed into the Great Hall halfway through dinner, quite a storm was stirred. Many had been wondering why the normally-inseparable Gryffindor trio had been incomplete at lunch, and now what appeared to be dinner too, and even more surprisingly, the Golden Boy had skipped his afternoon classes, the fact that it was boring old History of Magic notwithstanding. But most bit back the questions, at least directly to the protagonist, whose expression looked like he was ready to squash anyone in his path like an ant. It didn't seem that his new shadow would be able to provide answers too, judging by the lost expression on Draco as he trailed in behind Harry like a dejected puppy. 

When Harry slumped into a solitary corner seat by himself, Hermione, who had been observing him ever since he stepped in, frowned. It was as if he was purposely ignoring Draco, while just hours ago, Harry had been carrying him. But then, he had been behaving really weirdly then, all flustered. Had he knocked Draco out--?-Can't be. He loved his little ferret too much to cause him bodily harm, even if he was angry with him. So, what exactly happened…must have been during the bath…but what? Hermione's thoughts were interrupted when she felt an insistent elbow nudging her. "What?" She asked Ginny. 

"Don't 'what' me. I can practically see the gears turning in your head. You've got that squinting eyes and furrowed brows look. So, what's up with Harry?"

"What 'what'? Why? Who told you something happened?" Hermione did not want to spread rumours when she doesn't have the facts straight. Unfortunately, Ginny was persistent. 

"Honestly, Hermione, we all know that you're the cleverest student in Gryffindor, and maybe in the whole school, but that doesn't mean the rest of us are all idiots. Anyone can see something's up with Harry, not to mention someone who's spent hours of her misguided youth mooning over her stupid crush." The last part was half muttered under Ginny's breath, partly due to embarrassment and partly to fear of being overheard by her current beau, Dean. Not that anyone didn't know of her 'little' crush after the Valentine's Day fiasco in Harry's Year 2, and Harry's frantic attempts to stop the then-ferret Draco from swallowing bits of the written card delivered with the singing, after it jumped upon it and tore it apart. Particularly humiliating was how Harry was more concerned over what swallowing paper would do to his ferret than the destroyed Valentine itself.

Hermione was thinking of how to answer, so she did not notice Ron leaving his seat till it was too late. She watched Ron's face rapidly started to match the colour of his fiery hair, as his verbal onslaught was met by occasional grunts and shrugs while Harry refused to even look at him. When Ron reached out and grabbed the brunette's arm, Harry finally looked up. Hermione gasped. If looks could kill, Ron would probably have combusted into a pile of ashes at the spot. Shocked, she watched as Harry snarled something, wretched his arm free and stormed out. 

****************

"I don't know what his problem is. He's gone wonky, I tell you! Refusing to sit and talk with us! I definitely didn't do anything to set him off! I didn't, right? You're witness to that! I asked him nicely what was wrong and he just blew up at me!" Ron was still ranting and raving about the same topic a few hours later. 

"You should have known better than to approach him when he had THAT expression on his face, Ron." Hermione murmured head buried in a book. 

"But-but, how am I supposed to know he would take his foul mood, or whatever came over him, out on me? And he had the cheek to tell me to get away from him!"

Hermione's ears perked up. "Wait. What did he say?"

"He said to get away from him! The nerve of that guy! And I thought of him as my best friends all these years..."

"That was his exact wording? He didn't tell you to sod off or something like that?"

"No, but isn't it the same? They're all equally bad!" 

As Ron continued to puff, he was not aware of Hermione who was muttering to herself, flipping furiously through the book in her arms. Finally, she let out a triumphant yell.

"That's it!" 

"That's what?" 

"Self-imposed isolation complex!"

"Huh?" A thoroughly-confused Ron scratched his head. 

"Harry! He's pushing people away from himself. Possible causes: Defensive measure to prevent being hurt by others – can't be; afraid of causing others hurt – possible, but who?-; afraid of others finding about one's secret – hmm…. possibly, he certainly looked like he was lying earlier this afternoon….." Hermione was reciting from the book and adding in her notes.

"Again I say: Huh?? What are you talking about and what does that have to do with Harry?" Ron stared at Hermione as though she had grown an extra head. 

Hermione sighed and lifted up the book she was reading to show Ron the cover. What Ron had thought was another heavy Wizarding tomb was actually a Muggle book. 

"Psy-co-loo-gy? What in the world is that?"

"It's psy-CHO-lo-gy. _Human Psychology and Behaviour._A study in human thinking and responses to certain situations. Quite popular in Muggle universities."

"And…??"

Hermione sighed. "Harry's behaviour seems to fit in with what this book says. He's trying to cut off all contact with others. Didn't you notice he was ignoring even Draco earlier? The poor thing had to chase after Harry out of the Great Hall without even having a proper dinner. In fact, I doubt if he's even eaten since breakfast. Both of them, for the matter. A person may be doing that for a few possible reasons…."

"Hermione? I don't think that book is reliable. How can we understand behaviour from a stupid book? Besides, it's a Muggle one--" Ron instantly knew he had said the wrong thing when he saw Hermione's expression. Never insult a book or speak degrading remarks of Muggles in Hermione's presence. Apparently he had just broken both cardinal rules in one sentence. He hurriedly backtracked. 

"I mean-I mean- we can't come to a conclusion after just a few minutes of seeing Harry like that. We'll think about this more after seeing what happens tomorrow okay?" 

Hermione's scowl lost part of its ferociousness but never left her face. She grabbed her books and papers, getting ready to go up to her dorm room. 

"We'll see."

Ron stared after her departing back. 

"Oh man. Now BOTH my best friends are angry with me. What have I done to deserve this?"

TBC 


End file.
